The guiding principles of CDM that the Portfolio inventions make possible are:

1. Because rearranging columns of parameter values on a data table results in different patterns of the parameter values (also the order of the names of the listed objects), every permutation must be examined to ensure that no meaningful relationships remain undiscovered.

2. Because the parameter values on the data table are usually only a part of what is known about the listed objects, the user needs rapid access to any additional data which can be displayed or accessed on a dialog box associated with each object on the table, and on graphics imaged concurrently with the data table. Those graphics (probably thumbnails) open any digital address including a photo, text document, map, audio file, website, etc.

3. The user must be able to rapidly synchronize the displayed data with his/her evolving reasoning by revising the displays, causing shifting patterns from the re-sorting resulting from in-place text editing, and by additional permuting. Coloring of text, fields, rows, and columns can also help the user's thinking.

4. Perceptions of the multiple images generated by the user-directed manipulating/modeling of the (1) data table, (2) dialog boxes, and/or (3) associated graphics evoke information from that person's unique knowledge and experience to create a broad context in the user's working memory. Then human reasoning, rather than software-embedded algorithms, produces the outcomes.

5. The software application must be highly intuitive -- easy to learn and operate.